Almost Canadian

Following my recent thread about where to go in the US, we have decided upon Washington DC.

I thought that it would be fairly simple to obtain a direct flight, but it appears that this is not the case at all.

We were scheduled to hub through Dallas Fort Worth last year and one of our flights had a stop over time of 1 hour 20 mins IIRC. Our first flight was delayed by an hour but, fortunately, the airline ramp transferred us from one flight to another, so no issues arose.

The hubs that are coming up are as follows:

Minneapolis St. Paul;
Salt Lake City;
Denver;
Phoenix;
Toronto; and
Chicago.

Flying from Calgary one clears US immigration before boarding the flight so that is not an issue.

Obviously, we don't wish to have to stop over for too long during our connections. To those that are experienced with such things, what length of stopover would you consider ideal and are there any hubs to avoid?

Many thanks

dbd33

Time of year is an issue. Minneapolis and SLC are a bit weather prone.

Toronto has dreadful food at enormous cost and would be complicated as it's not in the US. I try to avoid it, and it's the nearest airport to here.

If Chicago entails a change of airline, and one of them is a local affliate airline using small planes, you want two hours there, otherwise I'd be calm about a 90 minute connection at any of the US ones.

Almost Canadian

Excellent, many thanks for the response.

I intend to remain with one airline, to avoid any issues with luggage. This isn't an issue on the way down (as we only take carry on) but is on the way back, as we tend to shop for clothes and bring them back.

I hubbed through Ottawa once, and it wasn't too bad. Good to know about Toronto though. I guess that takes Air Canada out of the equation

Souvy

I have to agree with dbd on Chicago. Err on the side of caution.

Atlantic Xpat

To offer a contrarian opinion to dbd33.....I fly regularly through Toronto and don't mind it at all. It is certainly a nicer environment than some of the US airports I fly through. It's not brilliant by any standard but then we're talking about flying, which generally, is an unremittingly dreadful experience wherever you fly through.

I think I've been through YYZ five times so far this year with a sixth trip coming up in ten days or so and a seventh a couple of weeks after that. I'd certainly prefer to be stuck there for a missed connection than at some US hubs. Lots of hotel options nearby.

Whichever route you go, if you are travelling Fall/Winter/Spring then being cognizant of the opportunities for your itinerary to get screwed up by weather delays is wise.

scrubbedexpat091

In winter I would avoid Chicago at all costs, it can be a complete mess when it snows, but in spring and summer thunder storms can be an issue there.

Denver and Minneapolis are safer bets in winters.

Phoenix is pretty safe year round, doesn't see many delays and even in summer with monsoons is a safer bet then DF/W or Chicago.

DF/W is a safe winter bet, but can see delays in Summer from t-storms.

I almost always use Phoenix as my connecting point with US Airways and so far never had a delay yet.

I would choose:

1. Phoenix
2. Salt Lake City
3. Denver

as top hubs to connect through.

Ben W Bell

Denver is really out of the way, but if you're sticking with the same airline it's actually pretty decent to transit through.